I love this time of year. As we start preparing for the holidays, everything takes on special meaning. Lights get twinklier, music gets cheerier, the air smells gingerier… ok, so I’m making up words but you know what I mean. Everything is just festive and comforting and, well, jolly!

In addition to loving the holidays, I also love this time of year at Citrix because we kick off award season in preparation for Citrix Summit. My colleagues and I have spent the last month traveling from Michigan to Sweden to Australia filming exciting stories for the Innovation Award for Partners program.

Citrix Innovation Award – Coretek

The first stop was Farmington Hills, Michigan, a beautiful suburb outside of Metro-Detroit and the home of Platinum Citrix Solution Advisor, Coretek Services. Our first interview was with Coretek CEO Ron Lisch. Ron has grown his company from just 4 people in 2004, to over 100 this year, all focused on their mission of “project success, no exceptions.” We also spoke at length with Coretek’s CTO, Ray Jaksic, about the company’s partnership with Citrix, the journey to the cloud, and delivering confidence to their customers. Our conversation focused on one customer in particular, Wolverine World Wide (WWW).

Citrix Innovation Award – Coretek

WWW is one of the world’s leading footwear and apparel distributors, providing marketing and licensing for iconic brands including Keds, Sperry, and more. Working with Citrix and Microsoft, Coretek developed a global solution for virtualized 3D apps hosted in Azure, that helps Wolverine accelerate time to market for new consumer products. Dee Slater, WWW CIO & Transformation Officer, is leading the company on a holistic transformation project called “Way Forward” that is centered around speed to market and gathering consumer-focused insights. Dee feels confident that with their cloud solution, they are delivering the right show to the right place at the right time. As she said, “We’re confident that Citrix is with us every step of the way.”

Keep an eye out for our other 2018 Innovation Award for Partners finalists’ videos – and get ready to vote in early January!